Around January 30, 1879

In this day and age, newspapers rarely print fiction. Of course, there is the occasional magical story written by a third grade class that appears every once a week in the Arts and Entertainment section of the paper, but for the most part, fictional stories of real substance are not published in newspapers anymore. This was not the case in the 1800's. Appearing in The Valley Star each week was...

An unknown epidemic struck the community of San Antonio, Texas, in January of 1879. There had been much disease spread throughout Texas in this time, but this epidemic was unrecognizable. The symptoms were such as cholera or yellow fever, which had previously desolated the population in San Antonio, and more widely, throughout Texas.

The accusations of adultery against Henry Ward Beecher caused a great stir in public discourse in the late nineteenth century. Beginning in 1872, when Victoria Woodhull published in Woodhull and Clafin's Weekly an account of the affair between the famed pastor, Beecher, and his parishioner, Elizabeth Tilton, the scandal captivated the public. The details of the affair and its aftermath...

The members of the City Council of Staunton, Virginia voted against the suspension over the Christmas holiday of an ordinance that forbad the use of pop-crackers in the streets. Christmas was to be celebrated in a joyful, yet quiet manner, not with the use of small explosives, which are noisy and might interfere with private celebrations. On the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth of December, a serenade...

The members of the City Council of Staunton, Virginia voted against the suspension over the Christmas holiday of an ordinance that forbad the use of pop-crackers in the streets. Christmas was to be celebrated in a joyful, yet quiet manner, not with the use of small explosives, which are noisy and might interfere with private celebrations. On the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth of December, a serenade...

The members of the City Council of Staunton, Virginia voted against the suspension over the Christmas holiday of an ordinance that forbad the use of pop-crackers in the streets. Christmas was to be celebrated in a joyful, yet quiet manner, not with the use of small explosives, which are noisy and might interfere with private celebrations. On the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth of December, a serenade...

Chas. M. Evans, Manufacturer of Artificial Limbs of the best quality, solicits a share of the Southern patronage the ad read. Prices have been reduced and other special inducements are now offered Southern citizens and soldiers. To insure satisfaction, each leg may be fitted and test fully before any payment is required. Mr. Evans, purveyor of prosthetics, provides the Rev. C.K. Marshall of Vicksburg,...

According to a Richmond jury, George Fagan, a black prisoner in the city jail, "came to his death on the 8th day of January, 1879, from consumption," and "the officers in charge are no way responsible." The State, a Richmond City newspaper relayed this story to the public as front-page news the following morning. The article went on to describe the jury's view that a hospital should...

Judge Aylett Nicol, now no longer sitting on the bench but behind the defense council's table, breathed a sigh of relief. The court was packed with people who wanted to hear the outcome of whether their Honorable Judge would be found guilty of official misconduct in his own court. Just the day before his final judgment, Mr. William E. Liscomb said he wanted to see the Boss Tweed of Prince William...

Due to warm and stable weather, Texas proved unique in that crops could be planted throughout the year. In fact, the work never ended because plowing would start in January, planting of corn and cotton in February and March, hoeing in June, shucking of corn in June and July, picking of cotton from August to December, and then preparation for the new growing season again in January.